Beijing Design Week (BJDW) is an annual event that takes place in Beijing, China during the fall. In 2012, UNESCO named Beijing an “International Design Capital.”[1] The purpose of Beijing Design Week is to raise public awareness of design as well as to help develop stronger design infrastructures and discourses in Beijing.[2][3]
The opening ceremony and the Beijing Design Awards mark the beginning of Beijing Design Week.[5] The Design Awards honor organizations, individuals, or pieces that excel in encouraging social progress, cultural development, trade promotion, and construction.[6] These awards also present China’s achievements in the design field, promote design innovation, stimulate the design industry, and ultimately set the trend for Beijing’s design market.[7] These awards are widely respected inside and outside the design industry as one of the most significant international design awards.[8]
The Beijing Design Week Forum is one of the main sections of BJDW. Policymakers and industry leaders aim to share their experience in design during the day-long event.[9] The BJDW Forum articulates itself around different themes depending on the year. Past speakers have included Daan Roosegaarde, Masayuki Kurokawa, Marcel Wanders, and Min Wang.
Every year, BJDW hosts a guest city representative to share their wisdom and experience. The aim is to promote institutional exchange as well as commercial and economic opportunities amongst the two cities. Past participants have been London,[10]Milan,[11]Amsterdam, and in 2014, Barcelona.[12]
The Beijing design market is the platform for trading design and copyrights, products, talents, and services. The development of the Beijing Design Market focuses on two aspects: design trading and market consumption.[13]
The Design Hop is the exhibition component of the BJDW. Located in different areas in Beijing, it showcases projects from designers and companies from around the world. Design Hop is considered to be one of the most dynamic sections of BJDW, involving events, exhibitions, installations, seminars, and lectures.
One of the Design Hop banners during the 2011 Beijing Design Week in the Dashilar area
Initiated by Beijing Design Week and International Copyright Exchange Center, Design Copyright Service is a website for design copyright registration. With this initiative, the new rule of the design market will be “first the copyright, then the design". The features of this service are electronic notarization for design copyright conducted via the internet, as well as patent registration and copyright registration, special technology for protection that cannot be reversed, exclusive digital password, a database of national standard to ensure secrecy and safety of the documents.
